• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.136-140
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• 2012

A 61-year-old male who complained of right upper quadrant pain was referred to the authors for evaluation after his computed tomography suggested biliary adenocarcinoma. The lesion consisted of multiple cysts with papillary mass and peri-ampullay mass. The patient underwent an operation due to a clinical suspicion of biliary cystadenocarcinoma, but the pathology confirmed biliary papillomatosis (BP) after diagnosing intrahepatic papillary neoplasm with high-grade dysplasia and invasive adenocarcinoma with papillary neoplasm from the distal common bile duct to the duodenum. BP is a disease characterized by multiple papillary masses. Its cause has yet to be discovered. It commonly manifests as bile duct dilation but rarely as a ductal cystic change. Under computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, both the BP and the cystic neoplasm can show bile duct dilation and a papillary mass, which makes their differential diagnosis difficult. A confirmative diagnosis can be made through a pathologic examination. BP is classified as a benign disease that can become malignant and may recur, though rarely. Its treatment of choice is surgical resection. Laser ablation or photodynamic therapy can be used for unresectable lesions. In the case featured in this paper, biliary papillomatosis was difficult to differentiate from cystic adenocarcinoma due to diffusely scattered multiple large cystic lesions in the liver, and it was histologically confirmed to have become malignant with cystic duct dilation after the operation. This case is reported herein with a literature review.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-4
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• 2014

Palliative care for cancer aims to relieve the discomfort and pain from the cancer itself and associated conditions. Gastrointestinal cancers originate from the tube like structure of gastrointestinal tract and cause complications such as obstruction, bleeding, adhesion, invasion, and perforation to adjacent organ. Recent advances in interventional endoscopy enables endoscopy physicians to do safe and effective care for gastrointestinal cancer patients. Endoscopic palliation includes stent, hemostasis, nutritional support and targeted drug delivery. Self expandable metallic stent is one of the most important modalities in gastrointestinal palliation. Through the endoscopy or over the wire pre-placed by endoscopy, stents restore the gastrointestinal luminal patency and relieve the obstructive condition. Endoscopic hemostasis is another important palliation in gastrointestinal cancer patients. Epinephrine injection, argon plasma coagulation and thermal cauterization are usual modalities for hemostasis. Histoacryl glue and fibrin glue are also available. Hemostatic nanopowder spray is newly reported effective in benign disease and is supposed to be effective also in cancer bleeding. Enteral feeding tubes including gastro- or jejunostomy and nosoduodenal tubes are placed by using endoscopic guidance. Enteral feeding tubes role as the route of easily absorbable or semi-digested nutrients and effectively maintain both patients calorie requirements and gut microenvironment. Photodynamic therapy is the one of the outstanding medical employments of photo-physics. Especially for superficial cancers in esophagus, photodynamic therapy is very useful in cancer removal and maintaining organ structure. In biliary neoplasm, photodynamic therapy is well known to be effective in cancer ablation and biliary ductal patency restoration. Targeted drug delivery is the lastest issue in palliative endoscopy. Debates and questions are still on the table. In this article, the role of endoscopic interventions in palliative care for the gastrointestinal tumors will be thoroughly reviewed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.2185-2190
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• 2013

Gallbladder carcinoma, the most frequent malignant neoplasm of the biliary tract system, has always been considered to feature late clinical presentation and diagnosis, limited treatment options and an extremely poor prognosis. In recent years, while the incidence of gallbladder cancer has appeared to be on the increase, the available treatment methods have not greatly improved survival of the affected patients. Thus, exploring new therapeutic targets for this devastating disease is an urgent matter at present. Epidemical studies have demonstrated that the incidence of gallbladder carcinoma exhibits a distinct gender bias, affecting females two to three times more than males, pointing to crucial roles of estrogen. It is well known that estrogen acts on target tissues by binding to estrogen receptors (ERs), which are mainly divided into three subtypes, $ER{\alpha}$, $ER{\beta}$ and $ER{\gamma}$. $ER{\alpha}$ and $ER{\beta}$ appear to have overlapping but also unique even opposite biological effects. As important pathogenic mediators, ERs have been considered to relate to several kinds of tumors. In gallbladder carcinoma tissue, ERs have been shown to be positively expressed, and ERs expression levels are associated with differentiation and prognosis of this cancer. Nevertheless, the exact mechanisms of estrogen inducing growth of gallbladder carcinoma remain poorly understood. On the base of the current investigations, we deduce that estrogen participates in promotion of gallbladder carcinoma by influencing the formation of gallstones, stimulating angiogenesis, and promoting abnormal proliferation. Since ERs mediate the carcinogenic actions of estrogen in gallbladder, and therapy targeting ERs may provide new directions for gallbladder carcinoma. Therefore, it should be stressed that ERs are potential therapeutic targets for gallbladder carcinoma.